Healthier environments could prevent almost one quarter of the global burden of disease, according to the World Health Organization.
Our work suggests that for example:
- the influence of UK air pollution may be equivalent to 1-2 years of lung ageing in adults
- road noise may increase the risk of obesity
- while increasing green space in urban areas may lower death rates
Healthcare professionals in hospitals and GP surgeries rarely consider environmental factors such as air pollution, mould and noise, and their role in triggering, prolonging or health conditions. This includes the environment of the healthcare setting itself.
We are assessing whether environmental exposures need specific consideration when treating people with single or multiple long-term health conditions, taking into account the potential for increased risk of exposure due to ethnicity or deprivation.
We are working within three research areas to address this:
- Measuring environmental factors which can be altered to show their impact on how long term health conditions can develop
- Understanding the impact of the environment in hospitals and clinics – such as light, noise and exposure to chemicals on patient recovery
- Looking at whether clinical management and services impact the environment and, if they do, how they can be mitigated for patient and community benefit.
Leadership
Theme Lead – Professor Anna Hansell
Professor Hansell’s main research focus is on how environmental factors, such as air pollution and transport noise, contribute to long-term health conditions, like heart and lung disease. Her initial training was in hospital respiratory medicine, but her later academic interests focused on epidemiology, which is the method of discovering the causes and rates of health and disease locally, nationally and globally. She has more than 20 years’ experience in environmental health research. Read Professor Hansell’s full biography and research portfolio here: https://le.ac.uk/people/anna-hansell
